Friday, April 29, 2011

Happy Friday, everyone! And time for another great sketch challenge at Sketch Frenzy Friday! This week's sketch was designed by Ros Davidson. Take a look:

Isn't it great? And here is what I did with it:

I am just loving the Fabulous Florets set! And I am finding more to do with this designer paper than I ever thought I would! For today's card I started with a card base of Whisper White and then glued down a piece of Pacific Point. Then I cut four panels of the new designer paper Beyond the Garden and glued those down. I cut a strip of Daffodil Delight and glued that at the bottom of the Pacific Point. I used the Lots of Tags sizzlet and die cut a tag to stamp my greeting in Pacific Point. The greeting comes from A Word for You. this is popped up and a flower punched with the itty bitty shapes punch pack in Daffodil Delight is glue dotted down with a pearl in the center. Then I stamped the stem and flowers on Whisper White in Wild Wasabi, Daffodil Delight and Tangerine Tango and cut them all out. These are popped up as well. And there you have it!

So now it is time for you to go see what Jennifer did with the sketch. Be sure to click all the way through the tour to get inspired. Then go and create your project using the sketch provided and upload it to the Sketch Frenzy Friday blog so we can all see! Thanks for stopping by and have a super day!

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Good Thursday morning! Time for another great challenge from Create with Connie and Mary! This week Connie and Mary are challenging us with colors! Take a look at these pretty spring-like colors!

And here is my creation!

I love these colors! I pulled out some new stamps to use with this challenge. I got out my Flower Fest and Happy Greetings sets. I started with a card base of card base of textured Wild Wasabi. Then I cut a piece of So Saffron and rounded opposite corners. Then I ran it through the Big Shot with the Square Lattice embossing folder. Then I took a sponge dauber and So Saffron ink and rubbed the ink right over the embossed image. Then I cut a circle using my 3" circle die from Whisper White and stamped the greeting from Happy Greetings in Perfect Plum and then pierced right underneath the greeting. I took some scrap Whisper White and stamped the leaves and flower from Flower Fest in So Saffron and Wild Wasabi. The middle of the flower was stamped with the same flower only in Perfect Plum. To color these, I took a sponge dauber and used the same color ink pads to lightly sponge ink on the images. I really love this look! Then I cut them out. The So Saffron piece is glued down flat. The circle is popped up with the leaves glued flat to the circle. The So Saffron flower is popped up. The Perfect Plum flower center has a brad put in and popped up as well.

So now you get to see what the other designers have come up with. So go check them out at the Create with Connie and Mary site! Then make your creation and upload it to their site so we can all see! Remember to use all Stampin' Up! products to be entered into a drawing for a free subscription to Create Summer. They will be drawing the final winner soon!! I can't wait to see what you do with these colors!

Monday, April 25, 2011

Good Monday morning, Friends! And, WOW! We are at the last week of April?! How did this happen? I hope that you all had a wonderful Easter! I know we did! We spent Friday and Saturday in Denver. Friday we went to a Rapids game and that was exciting! Then Saturday, the boys had a soccer game of their own. And they won!! 2-1!! It was FREEZING cold there and the wind was blowing but they hung in there! The drive home was rainy and snowy. And it has rained here at home ever since! I think it is supposed to rain today and tomorrow - off and on. But you know what they say... April showers bring May flowers!

Today's card is one that I did for a recent swap I was in. The swap was to use Summer mini catalog items and so I picked the Fabulous Florets! I love this set! I also wanted to use the new Beyond the Garden designer paper. I had seen this really cool idea to make a "ruffle" using paper. I just accordion folded the paper and glued it down with a lot of glue dots! The ribbon also helps hold it down. Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Hello Friends! I am pre-posting this as we will be heading out of town in a few hours and won't be back until Saturday night. We are going to watch the Colorado Rapids play in Denver and then Nick has a soccer game in Colorado Springs on Saturday. Whew! This has been our routine, lately. But we are loving it! I do hope that Nick will start feeling better. He had allergies hit him hard earlier this week and then and mild asthma attack Wednesday night. He is on his meds now and I think he is ready to get out and play but I am not sure his lungs are ready. He is NOT one to sit still. So we will see how he feels tomorrow.

The card for today is one that I did with the ladies in my shoebox swap group. The layout is not really anything new but I love the look and it really is so versatile! When I am in a creative block I will come back to this layout. I used the greeting from the hostess level 3 Occasional Greetings set. And I used "Birthday Wishes" because we celebrated three birthdays this month in our shoebox group (and we are only a group of six)! Thanks for stopping by and have a super day!

Friday, April 22, 2011

Thank goodness it's Friday! I hope that your week has gone by wonderfully! And I hope that you are ready to see a new sketch from Sketch Frenzy Friday! This week's sketch is brought to us by Robbie Rubala. Take a look:

A fun sketch with lots of possibilities! And here's what I came up with:

I just got this stamp set and new punch (punch to be in the upcoming Summer mini catalog)! I had to use it!! I started with a card base of Old Olive. Then I cut down a piece of Whisper White. The Whisper White has the stem of Bold Blossom stamped in Old Olive and the greeting from the same set stamped in Poppy Parade. Then I wrapped a piece of Poppy Parade ribbon around it and tied some white baker's twine onto it. I stamped the butterfly from the same set in the corner in Old Olive and cut down the corner of the Whisper White piece so that the butterfly shows. Then the Whisper White panel gets glued down. Then I took my new Blossom Bouquet triple layer punch and punched layers two and three in Poppy Parade and layer one in Tangerine Tango. I glued layer one and two together and then onto the card. Layer three of the punch got popped up. I finished it off with an itty bitty button to which I added a sliver of Basic Black cardstock. And there you have it! This was a really fun card to put together!

Thanks for stopping by! Time to send you on to Jennifer's blog to see her amazing creation! Click your way through the tour to get inspired and then be sure to upload your creation to the Sketch Frenzy Friday blog. I always look forward to seeing what you all create with our sketches! Have a super day!

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Good morning, Friends! I hope your week is going great! It is so fun to see my daffodils and tulips blooming! Today Connie and Mary have a super fun sketch challenge! Take a look:

And here's my creation:

It looks pretty similar to yesterday's blog tour card, doesn't it? I am in love with this set! And I am having fun putting these bright colors together! I started with a card base of Wild Wasabi. My card measures 4 1/4" square. Then I added a square of Daffodil Delight. I cut four squares of Pacific Point and ran them through the Big Shot with the Square Lattice embossing folder and then rounded opposite corners of each. These are glued to the Daffodil Delight piece. The stem, flowers and quote are from a new set that will be in the upcoming Summer mini catalog called Fabulous Florets. I stamped these on Whisper White in Wild Wasabi, Melon Mambo and Daffodil Delight and cut them out. These are mounted with dimensionals to the card. I stamped the quote in Wild Wasabi on the side. I stamped the greeting in Pacific Point on Whisper White and tucked it behind the stem. The final touch is an itty bitty button with some new baker's twine (also to be in the new Summer mini catalog). And there you have it!

It's your turn to create something with this sketch and post it to the Create with Connie and Mary blog so that we can all see! Don't forget to use Stampin' Up! products only so that you can be entered to win a free subscription to Create Summer! Thanks for stopping by and have a super day!

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Note: If you are visiting before the 20th some of the links may not be working. So be sure to come back and visit on the 20th to see all the wonderful projects!

Hello, Friends! I am so excited to be participating in this month's Control Freaks blog tour! You should have come from Lee Ann Greff's blog. But if you started here, that's o.k. because you will click your way through to see all the Freaks and eventually end up here again. This month the Freaks will be showing items from the upcoming Summer mini catalog. And there are some super, great, fun products to show! I decided to show you some new designer paper and the coordinating stamp set, along with a coordinating embossing folder. These have quickly become some of my favorite products! But I think that I will be falling in love with all the products!

So I made a card holder/organizer and a card to go in it. Take a look:

And here is a look at the inside with the tabs:

Here is a look at the box when it is closed:

And here is a better look at the card I made to go in it:

I got the instructions for the card holder/organizer from SplitCoast. It is super easy to make! I only made one card for this project, but you could make all your cards to coordinate with your box! I also thought that this would make a wonderful Mother's Day gift.

For this project I used the new Beyond the Garden designer paper. This paper coordinates with the colors Pacific Point, Melon Mambo, Wild Wasabi, Tangerine Tango, and Daffodil Delight. These are such fun, bright, cheery colors that are great for summer! For the card, I used the coordinating stamp set called Fabulous Florets. This stamp set is so versatile and pretty! The greeting comes from the new set Happy Greetings. You might also notice the embossed image on the card itself. This is a new embossing folder called Flower Garden. Too fun!!

I am so glad that you stopped by and now it is time for you to click on the link below and visit Dawn Olchfeske and her wonderful projects! Enjoy the tour and be ready to order from this fabulous mini catalog on May 1!

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Good Saturday morning! It felt really good to sleep in a little! I think I could have slept longer but we needed to get up and ready for a soccer game today. Our first home game!! We are so excited! Then Nick plays a baseball scrimmage this afternoon. That should be really fun, too! But the best part is that the weather looks wonderful!!

Today's card is the third card I did with my stamp club this month. This idea is all over the place and I wanted to give it a try. So here is my version of the square lattice/cross card. Isn't this a super idea! I love it when you can use a product in another and very unique way. As I was searching for more ideas and instructions on how to do this I came across a video on how to do this. You can see it here. It is actually very simple! Thank you for stopping by and have a super day!

Friday, April 15, 2011

Happy Friday everyone! I hope that you will find some time during the weekend to play along with the team at Sketch Frenzy Friday! Tammy Baldwin has made a great sketch to challenge us this week. Take a look!

And here is my card! I got to try out my new stamps for this one!

﻿I started with a card base of Pear Pizzazz textured cardstock. Then a square layer of Peach Parfait. You will notice that I got my squares backwards. And the focal image is not even a square. But this is the way it worked for me. The stamps are from the new set, Grow Your Way, that will be in the new Summer mini catalog! I stamped the flower image in black StazOn onto Confetti White cardstock. I stamped the image twice and watercolored. I cut out the flower part of one of the stamped/colored images and attached it to the other with dimensionals. This panel is glued to a piece of Concord Crush cardstock and then popped up onto the Peach Parfait. I stamped the greeting on Confetti White and glued it to the card. And there you have it! Simple!

Time for you to click your way through the tour to see what the rest of the team has come up with! Then it is your turn to create a project with this sketch! Be sure to upload it to the Sketch Frenzy Friday blog so we can all see! I am always amazed at the talent out there! So, go see what Jennifer has created! Thanks for stopping by and have a super day!

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Good morning everyone! Are you ready for a great color challenge from Connie and Mary? Well, ready or not here they come! Connie and Mary have decided to alternate between color and sketch challenges because they know that you like those best! They will still throw in an occasional theme/inspirational challenge but you can expect more color and sketch challenges. So, today is a color challenge from Create with Connie and Mary! The colors that they chose are Pacific Point, Pumpkin Pie and Real Red. Here is what I finally came up with:

I actually got this card layout idea from a friend of mine, Alison. She and I are in a monthly shoebox club and she had made a card pretty much just like this one only she had used products that were not Stampin' Up!. I loved this layout so much that I wanted to duplicate it with Stampin' Up! products and finally found the time to do it. I started with a card base of Whisper White. Then I took a piece of Pacific Point and my Tasteful Trim die and die cut the scallop border. I used my circle punch from the Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack to punch a circle in each of the scallops. I got out my Itty Bitty Bits stamp set (had to dust it off as I haven't used it at all ) and carefully stamped the bird image in Real Red in each of the circles. Then I took a piece of the new Beyond the Garden designer paper that will be in the Summer mini catalog and used my scallop trim border punch on the bottom. It is attached to the Pacific Point piece and this whole panel is popped up. Then I cut a very thin piece of Pumpkin Pie cardstock and glued it down. I wanted a little embellishment so I used a bitty button with some new white baker's twine (also to be in the new and upcoming Summer mini catalog) and a Real Red punched circle. The greeting is from Teeny Tiny Wishes. As I think about this card I smile at all the "itty bitties" and "teeny tinies". Too funny!! But I do like the way it turned out.So now is the time where I send you off to see what the other very talented design team members did with these colors. You can find their work with links to their blogs at Create with Connie and Mary. I do hope that you will find time to play along this week. I always love to see your wonderful creations! So create your project and then upload it to the Create blog. Don't forget to use all Stampin' Up! products to be entered into the drawing for a FREE subscription to Create Summer Edition! Have a super day!

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Good morning, Friends! Wow! We are already half-way through another week of April! Time is really not slowing down so I guess I had better figure out a way to get myself caught up!! Does anyone else feel this way? But I guess that spring is usually this way, now that I think about it. And here I thought that we were actually doing less - ha!! The weather is supposed to turn icky today. And by "icky" I mean wind. Yuck!! I really hate the wind! I noticed that Nick is coughing more, too. Time to pull out the inhaler!

Today's card was inspired by a layout that I had seen at Cards & Things challenge blog. It was their sketch challenge from last week. And it was a stamp club project for this month. Super simple and super easy!! I love a layout like this that can showcase beautiful designer paper!

Before I sign off today I would like to say a big "Thank You" to everyone who nominates me for different blog awards! I really do appreciate it! I haven't been finding the time to put them on my blog. But I don't want to ignore them either. Several of you have given me different kinds of awards and I am really flattered and deeply honored that you think I deserve them. So "Thank You" for these!! Have a super day, everyone!

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Good morning, Friends! I'm sorry that it's been a while since my last post. It was a very busy weekend for us and I didn't have anything ready to put up. I hope that you all are having a great start to your week! I think that this will be a long week for us because we feel like we didn't get a weekend. But it was sure fun!! We went to Denver on Friday (right after school). Saturday morning we drove from north Denver (where the baseball team was staying) to just past I-70 to play a soccer game which the boys won!!! Then we drove back to north Denver to play a baseball game that afternoon. The boys had won their first game (Nick didn't get to play in that one) but lost the second game. The wind had picked up by this time and it was just miserable!! But they still played really great! Then, on Sunday, we stayed in north Denver for Nick to play in the morning baseball game and they lost that one, too. That was a hard loss as they had pulled ahead but didn't keep the lead. And Nick got to pitch!! He did great for not having practiced! Then we got in the car and raced to south Denver for another soccer game. And the boys won that game, too! Busy!!! Then we drove home. It started snowing in the mountains and by the time we got to Vail Pass it was white out conditions. We took it slow and made it home but, like I said, we are exhausted! Yes, I would do it all over again! Yesterday I had to get myself busy and get ready for my stamp club. I didn't have any cards ready for that so I came up with three that I really liked and I think the ladies did, too. Today I will need to get busy and get my cards ready for the design teams that I participate with. But I have some new goodies that I can play with!!

Today's card is one that I actually got from the catalog. I think that the one in the catalog is on vellum but the focal point is pretty much the same. I liked the spring/summery colors and it is really pretty easy! Thanks for stopping by and have a super day!

Friday, April 8, 2011

Happy Friday everyone! And Happy Birthday to Melinda!! Melinda is one of the super talented design team members for Sketch Frenzy Friday and today is her birthday! AND she created this week's awesome sketch!! Take a look:

And here is what I did with her sketch:

Since it is Melinda's birthday, I wanted to make a birthday card for her (and for anyone else who might be celebrating today). I hope you all are not sick of cupcakes. I find them extra yummy - lol! I started with a card base of Early Espresso and ran the front of my card through the Big Shot with the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder. The Whisper White piece has three strips of Whisper White attached to it with Chocolate Chip brads. The strips have words from the Fundamental Phrases stamped in Early Espresso on them. Then I glued it to the card. I attached a piece of Daffodil Delight to a piece of Early Espresso and popped it up on the Whisper White. The cupcake bottom was stamped in Early Espresso and the top in Regal Rose and then punched out and popped up. Then I stamped the flower in Daffodil Delight and Old Olive markers and cut it out and glue dotted it onto the cupcake with a basic rhinestone in the center. There you have it!

Be sure to click on to see what Jennifer did with this sketch. Continue through the tour to get inspired. Then make your creation and upload it to the Sketch Frenzy Friday blog so we can all see what you did with this sketch. Also, as you take the tour, make sure to stop at Melinda's blog and wish her a very Happy Birthday! Thanks for stopping by and have a super day!

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Good morning, Friends! I hope you are ready for a super great sketch challenge from Create with Connie and Mary! I think this sketch is one of my very favorites! It is so clean and simple and versatile. Just my style!

And here is what I created:

﻿Simple! I hadn't used the Create a Cupcake set and coordinating punch in quite a while so I pulled it out for this challenge. I love the colors, which I got from the Color Coach. The card base is Pretty in Pink. The next layer is Whisper White and then another piece of Pretty in Pink which was run through the Big Shot with the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder. Around these two layers is a piece of Whisper White taffeta ribbon and then they are popped up. The focal point is a piece of Whisper White layered onto Chocolate Chip. The scallop piece is Melon Mambo and this is popped up over the ribbon. Then I stamped the cupcake bottom in Chocolate Chip and the top in Pretty in Pink and then punched them out and popped them up on the Whisper White panel. I stamped the flower from the cupcake set with Melon Mambo and Wild Wasabi markers and cut it out. It is glue dotted onto the cupcake and a rhinestone is placed in the center. There you have it!

I do hope that you will find time to play along with the sketch challenge this week. I would love to see how you use this sketch. Remember to use 100% Stampin' Up! products. Each project you submit gets you an entry into the drawing for a free subscription to Create Summer Edition! So be sure to enter your creation! Connie and Mary will be drawing from the March entries and another time from the April entries. Be sure to see the Create with Connie and Mary website for more details and to see the rest of the design team entries. Thanks for stopping by and have a super day!

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Good morning, Friends! Wow! We are already at the middle of the week! It's downhill from here to the weekend! I hope that you are having a super week, so far. It seems to be going good around here but I haven't tried to wake up my son yet - lol! He's been in a good mood these last few days and has been very agreeable and willing to do what he is supposed to do. I hope that keeps up!! He gets out of school early today and has a haircut so I think he should be happy about that.

Today's card was inspired by a sketch from Stamping 411. I haven't played along with their sketches in quite a while. I really liked this sketch! I thought it was unique and offered some fun possibilities! But when I sat down to create, I couldn't figure out what I wanted to do with the the focal point. I immediately reached for my butterflies but, geesh! I feel like I have used those so much. So I went in a different direction. And I think it turned out all right. It uses my favorite colors anyway - lol! Thanks for stopping by and have a super day!

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Good morning everyone! I hope your week got off to a great start! It was cooler yesterday but not too bad. Today is supposed to be warm! But then it gets cooler and rainy for the next several days. Yes, we need the moisture but we have baseball and soccer games this weekend in Denver. That won't be fun if it rains. Well, for me, anyway. Nick loves to play in the rain!

Today's card was inspired by Mary Jo's lunchtime sketch challenge. It is another fabulous one! I wanted to use some bright spring/summery colors and here is what I came up with. I sure do love the Color Coach! I also wanted to use the level 2 hostess set, Apple Blossoms. My friend, Becky, has been doing some really cute cards with this set and I don't think that I have even used mine! Shame on me! So I dusted it off to see what I could come up with. I really like this flower. And it is an easy set to work with.

So, Mary Jo does a blog hop with her sketch challenges. That means if you want to play along with her sketch, you can enter your card on any one of the sites where the list of entries appear - like mine. Well, at least I am going to give it a try - lol! Also, you can now view the entries and go from blog to blog, like a blog hop! Thanks for stopping by today! Have a super day!

Monday, April 4, 2011

Good morning everyone! Another week is upon us! The time sure does fly by, doesn't it? I think this week will be pretty "normal" with practices, the occasional laundry, dinner, dishes, etc. And that's o.k. as we will have another busy weekend in Denver again. I do get a massage today! That will be very nice!!

Today's card was inspired by a layout from Card Patterns. It is a nice clean and simple layout! I love this one! So many possibilities! I think I will use this one a lot! Anyway, here is what I came up with. More vanilla and black with a little Crumb Cake! But I do like the way it turned out. Thanks so much for stopping by and have a super day!

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Good Sunday morning! It was so nice to be able to sleep in after our long day yesterday! The boys lost their soccer game but they played awesome! The other team only had a few shots on goal but the difference was that those shots made it into the goal and in the end, that is what matters. If our boys can figure that part out, we will always win when they play like they did yesterday! Wow! It was really warm yesterday! I got my first sunburn of the year. Time to get out the sunblock. Now, this week is to be cooler and rainy. We need the moisture so I won't complain there, but I hope it doesn't get too cold. I am in the mood for some spring storms. Right now it is really blowing up something!

Today's card started from a sketch and then we took a turn and ended up here - lol! I wasn't sure if I even liked this but I didn't hate it bad enough to throw it away. So here it is for all to see and decide. Thanks so much for stopping by to take a look! I hope that you all have a super day!

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Good morning, Friends! I hope you are all having a super weekend so far. Ours has been great! The weather has been just gorgeous! Yesterday I took my son shopping for a new summer wardrobe. I have to say that we had a great time! He is becoming much more conscience of what looks good together. And he seems to be into the color purple! But with his skin tone, he looks really good in anything! Anyway, we found tons of clothes AND we got a ton of discounts!!! Mom loves that part!! We ended up saving more money than we spent! Not bad! He's happy and mom's happy! We will be leaving in about an hour to drive to the Denver area for a soccer game and then drive home afterwards. We will be on the road longer than the game will take. I hope they win!!

Today's card was inspired by a great sketch from Mary Jo. I thought this sketch was so unique that I just had to give it a go. I used the colors from the Greenhouse Gala designer paper. I don't have that paper but I love the colors from it! I ended up giving this card to our Pastor earlier this week. She really liked it! Thanks for stopping by and taking a look! Have a super day!

Friday, April 1, 2011

Good Friday morning, Friends! I hope you are ready for a fabulous sketch from Sketch Frenzy Friday! This week's sketch was created by Kim Innis. Take a look:

What a great sketch! I wanted to combine this sketch with the challenge going on at LNS. That challenge is to use animal images on your card. So I started thinking about what stamps I have that have animals. Not many! I have butterflies but they are part of the insect family. Then I remembered these cute dogs! I just love them!! Take a look at what I finally came up with:

This stamp set has been around for quite a while. And I haven't used it in a while. So I dusted it off and had a go. I started with a card base of textured Cajun Craze. My scallop layer is Basic Black and on top of that is Always Artichoke that I ran through the Big Shot using one of the texture plates (really hard to see). A piece of linen thread is wrapped around this before it gets glued down. Then I got out the watercolor paper and cut it to size. I stamped the truck and the cute little lady in black StazOn. I also stamped the dogs in black StazOn on a scrap piece of watercolor paper. I watercolored the images using my aqua painter and various colors. The truck was done in Cajun Craze. I cut out the dogs and glue dotted them onto the back of the truck. The glue dots gives them a 3-D effect! The truck piece is popped up onto the card. Then I took the sentiment and stamped it in Basic Black onto a scrap piece of Very Vanilla and punched it out with the 1 1/4" circle punch. Then I punched out another circle from Basic Black with the 1 3/8" circle punch. This is also popped up. And there you have it! Cute!

Time to move on and see what Jennifer came up with this week. Be sure to click your way through the tour to get inspired. Then make up your project using this sketch and upload it to the Sketch Frenzy Friday blog. I just love to see what everyone does with the sketches. Thanks for stopping by and have a super day!

This is me!

About Me

I am a wife to a wonderful, hard-working husband of 20 years, a mom to a very energetic boy and a Stampin' Up! demonstrator. I love to spend time with my family watching baseball games, camping, 4-wheeling as well as winter activities like skiing and snowmobiling.